The present invention relates to exercise machines, and in particular to rowing style exercise machines adapted to provide both flexion and extension resistance to a rowing motion, while providing optimized positioning of hands, arms, and legs during such flexion and extension resistance.
Prior art exercise rowers 100 such as the one shown in FIG. 1, typically provide resistance while a user of the device is extending his or her legs, such that resistance is provided as a seat 102 travels away from a foot rest 104, creating a leg press exercise. Additionally, rowing arms 106 are provided such that the user can exercise his or her arms and shoulders by drawing the handles 108 of the arms 106 into the user's chest, while the legs are being extended, to exercise not only the legs (in an extension mode), but the arms and shoulders as well. Many present rowers only load the arms 106, such that the leg press action is used to pull the arms rearward, while the arms of a user concurrently pull the arms further rearward.
These exercise devices utilize a seat 106 that remains substantially fixed in orientation relative to the axis of travel 110 of the seat, as well as arms 106 that rotate around one or two axis 112, 114. The rotational axes of the arms are about an axis 116 perpendicular to the axis of travel of the seat, and about an axis 118 parallel to the axis of travel 110 of the seat. The handles 108 of the arms 106 remain fixed to the ends of the arms 106, and accordingly constrain the motion of the hands of a user, requiring significant motion of the hands about the wrists.
This constraint of the motion of the hands forces the transference of forces from the arms 106 of the exercise machine 100 through the wrists while the wrists are mis-aligned with the hands, creating adverse stresses in the wrists of the users. These forces may thus limit the resistance forces that a user can safely impose through the arms, as well as create adverse health impacts.
These rowing machines 100 are further limited by the fixed motion of the seat 102 relative to axis of travel 110 of the seat. A seat back 120 may be provided, such that when the user extends his or her legs, the seat back 120 allows a user to apply force to the seat back 120 to force the seat 102 to travel with the buttocks of the user away from the foot rests 104. Return forces are negligible, since no seat flexion resistance is provided, such the fixed orientation of the seat 102 does not hamper return of the seat 102 along the seat travel axis 110 as a user draws his or her legs in for a next stroke. Should resistance forces be imposed as the seat 102 travels forward, a user is likely to slide off the seat 102, as the resistance to such motion is applied to the seat 102.
The issues addressed above limit the ability to effectively use a rowing style machine in which resistance is imposed in both flexion and extension motions, and accordingly, the present invention is disclosed to address these and other limitations of existing exercise equipment.